Sheet batteries as substrate for electronic circuit

ABSTRACT

Using sheet battery material as a circuit board substrate eliminates the weight and bulk of batteries as a separate circuit component and also eliminates the weight and bulk of fiberglass substrate or flex substrate as printed circuit materials. Insets with wiring built in can give vertical wiring between two or more circuit layers and can support electronic components which have leads connecting wiring on more than one layer of a printed circuit. Connector clips inserted when the connector pins are polarized target connection to power and to ground components of one or more layers of sheet battery. Using these connections between battery substrate components of the structure allows a single power source as A-C or solar to recharge all battery substrate in the electronic component. The effect of application of these discoveries is to reduce the size and mass of the circuit and thus reduce the size and weight of electronic devices from hearing aids and flash lights to portable computers, from video cameras to mini and portable television sets and radios.

RELATED APPLICATION

This is a divisional application of Ser. No. 07/567,194, filed Aug. 14,1990.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to uses of single or laminate layer(s) ofsheet battery as the support substrate for the electronic circuitry theypower and for the circuitry used to recharge the battery.

Electronic circuits are becoming more compact using surface mounting andflex circuitry techniques. These circuits have for the most part beenseparate from battery units, power supply and voltage converters.

The size and multiplicity of the sheet battery substrate determines thevoltage and current capacities of the power unit. Sheet batterytechnology has achieved four times the power per unit mass ofconventional batteries.

Continuous progress in thin sheet battery or electronic cell developmenthas progressed to reliably rechargeable power units emerging fromfabrication in continuous web form. This allows the expansion of its useto circuit substrate for long-term use items needing minimal mass withbuilt-in recharging capabilities.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to consolidate electroniccircuitry by mounting the circuitry on the neutral insulating coveringof sheet battery material on one or both sides of the battery unit.

Printed circuit and surface mounting techniques and evaporated circuittechniques are used on both fiberboard and flex circuit films. Applyingthese to sheet battery substrate gives greater performance per unit massfor electronic circuitry.

It is another object of the invention to laminate the sheet batterysubstrate making tiers of circuitry and increasing the power componentallowing spacing for ventilation if needed.

It is yet another object of the invention to insert circuit bearingplugs in the sheet battery substrate which connect wiring between thesurface of circuitry whether on two surfaces per sheet or in a laminatestructure of battery substrate.

It is yet another aspect of the invention to use an inner surface wirededge clip with pivoting probe leads, the number equal to the number oflaminate layers and spaced to center the pivot at the midpoint of eachsheet of battery included, which when put in a direct current (DC)circuit are attracted to either the anode or cathode segment of thesheet battery depending on charge. With probes aligned the clip isdriven into the sheet battery substrate anchoring the probes in theanode substrate or the cathode substrate of the sheet(s) of battery.These prongs attached to the conductive lining of the clip comprise onelead of the battery unit. A clip applied with the reverse chargecomprises the second battery lead.

The above technique allows ease of assembly and in field replacement ofthe battery unit for circuit structures independent of the battery unit.

It is yet another aspect of the invention to apply recharging circuitryto the battery substrate for, for example, solar cell chargers oralternating current (AC) wall current trickle chargers.

It is yet another aspect of the invention to build a functional productusing the components of this invention, as, for example, a solar, ACtrickle chargeable flashlight adding plug prongs and housing, a surfaceof solar cells, rocker switches and bulbs enabling use at home and inthe wilds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of a printed circuit on a sheetbattery substrate using surface mounted electronic assembly withtraversing wiring and power and ground access.

FIG. 1A is a partial cross-sectional view of a sheet battery as seen atline 1A--1A of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is a perspective illustration of a printed circuit with surfacemounted components on both surfaces of the sheet battery substrate andconventional mounted components on inserts accessing the circuit wiringon both surfaces.

FIG. 2A is a perspective illustration of the underside of the raisedinsert shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 2B is a partial cross-sectional view of the insert shown at line2A--2A of FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section illustration of multiple layers of laminatedsheet battery substrates with surface mounted electronics on the outersurfaces and integrated circuit-type electronics, such as evaporatedcircuitry, on the surface of the middle sheet of the laminated sheetbatteries, and inserts accessing all layers.

FIG. 3A is a partial sectional view of the evaporated circuitry on theinner surface of laminated sheet batteries shown at line 3A--3A of FIG.3.

FIG. 4 shows a means of inserting ground and power battery leads intothe sheet batteries during fabrication and in repair procedures.

FIG. 4A is a side view of the clip shown at lines 4A--4A in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 is a perspective illustration of an AC and solar cellrechargeable flashlight powered by a sheet battery stack highlightingthe general structure, light array and AC adapter.

FIG. 5A is a partial cross-section of the AC adapter shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 5B is a front view of the flashlight shown in FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, circuit with components 50-51, 53-54 and wiring 52are formed as an integral part of sheet battery 1, as for example, thelithium vanadium rechargeable sheet battery developed by Henry and SteveHope of Hope Industries, Inc., and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,883issued Mar. 18, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,059 issued Dec. 27, 1988; andU.S. Pat. No. 4,960,655 issued Oct. 2, 1990. Sheet battery componentsshown in FIG. 1A are comprised of a power layer 2 and a ground layer 3with an electrolyte therebetween. The top and bottom outer surfaces 9 ofthe sheet battery are covered with a non-conducting substrate. Surfacemounting techniques are used to adhere the components to the surface 9and the leads ar fused to the printed circuit by wave soldering and useof adhesives. Power 2 and ground 3 from the sheet battery are accessedusing inserts from wiring 52.

Referring to FIG. 2, battery sheet 1 has circuitry on the upper and thelower surfaces 9. Inserts 70 connect the upper and lower surfaces of thesheet battery through wiring 52i. One insert also has the role ofmounting location for an integrated circuit chip 50. Leads 52i andconnector adhesive 57 connect components 56 to wire 52 or the printedcircuit on the upper and lower surfaces of the sheet battery. The tworenditions of the larger insert 70 show its upper and lower surfaces.Battery lead connector 80 similar to the connector described in FIG. 4is used here on a single battery sheet. Battery lead connector 80 housesthe power or ground probe 81 shown on edge wiring connections to power 2and to ground 3, here giving a second ground lead source.

Referring to FIG. 3, we have a laminate of printed circuit or integratedcircuit layers of sheet battery 1. Insert 75 made from plastic or othernon-conductive material serves the multiple layer structure by feedingout through leads 52i at the appropriate layers and in the appropriatedirections. Insert 75 can be a single insert or a laminate of singleinserts with connector adhesive 57 extending outward making it simple toconnect insert wires 52i with circuit wires 52. Insert 75 carries on itsouter layer integrated circuits or other similar chips which have leads52i feeding components on the various layers. Contact with wiring 52i onthe inserts 70 and 75 to wiring 52 on sheet battery surface 9 is by wavesolder or conductive adhesives 57 or conductor wired flex circuit tape.Concave hollows 10 keep the insert substrate from the battery power 2and ground 3 substrates. Air pockets or non-conducting plastic can fillthese spaces insuring no grounding out of the sheet battery.

Referring to FIG. 4, a means to take advantage of the polarized natureof a common battery 22 in placing the battery connector clips 80, usesleads from the positive end of the common battery 22 to direct connectorpins 81 to the power substrate 2 and the negative pole of the commonbattery 22 to direct connector pins 81 to the ground substrate 3 ofsheet battery 1. The auxiliary common battery allows initial setting ofleads for a sheet battery stack. These clips handle multiple layers ofsheet battery substrate 1. Clips 80 for single sheets of battery sheet 1as shown in FIG. 2 are made and applied using the same principle.

The battery lead clips 80 have a support substrate lined with aconductive sheet 82 in contact with the lead pins 81. Concave hollows100 for each layer keep the conductive layer from contacting the power 2or ground 3 of the battery, but allow contact with the insulatingsurface 9 of the layers. Clamps 84 from the cathode of the auxiliarycommon battery 22 to the clip 80 cause the pins 81 to favor the power 2of the sheet battery. Once the polarity holds the pins 81 in the desireddirection, the clip 80 is pushed onto the battery material causing thepins 81 to penetrate the proper layer of the battery substance. Pins 83and 85 feed into the power 2 and ground 3 of the sheet batteries,respectively.

The choice of circuit construction between the inner and outer layers ofthe sheet battery defines a preferred rendition of the patent satisfyingthe inclusion where necessary of mounting individual components on outersurface circuits and reserving the inner surfaces for circuitry that canbe rendered using evaporated circuit techniques.

The thickness of the sheet battery intended for use is about 0.02-0.04inch thick which is not possible to draw with inner definition. Therepresentations here greatly expand the sheet battery's verticaldimension. The hollows 100 are deeper ellipses containing the pin 81.With the design of circuit accommodation for the sheet battery materialsin single or multiple layers, the condensation of circuit size isaccomplished.

Referring to FIG. 5, a flashlight, with circuit board sheet battery 1supporting a trickle charge circuit 25 drawing power from plug prongs 5which take AC wall plug 20 power and feeds the power side with lead 26and ground with lead 24 which feed into wires 52 of a trickle chargingcircuit on the sheet battery surface. Alternately, it can use solarcells 30 as long as diode 33 prevents current drain when the cells arenot in light inputting charge with power line 37 and ground lead (notshown). Light from the sun or a lamp charges the battery through thesolar cell energy absorption. Both charging circuits are common art inthe electronics field and solar cells come with recommended circuitschematics.

The flashlight has switches 40 in the on position and switches 41 and 42in the off position resulting in bulbs 60 being on and bulbs 61 and 62being off giving a choice of pattern for bulb illumination as shown inFIG. 5B. The power contact 63 and ground contact 64 from bulb 60 has apermanent power wire 65 and a ground wire 66 going through switch 40here in the on position. These wires meet battery circuit wires 52 tocomplete the circuit powered from the power and ground clips 80.

Flashlight encasement includes the hinged cover 90 over the plug prongs5 as shown in FIG. 5A, which contains a handle 95 that can be clipped tofor belt or lanyard carrying.

This figure shows a practical application of the sheet battery substratecircuit board design. It includes two means of charging the device bothhaving their circuits on the sheet battery substrate. This simpleapplication gives the basics for using this circuit design for a widerange of applications.

As is shown with the flashlight in FIG. 5, we have eliminated the ACconverter by applying a trickle charging circuit which will allow onlyone direction of current from the AC power source and will slowly chargethe battery from the wall plug. Also, the simple accommodation of thesolar cell with a single diode 33 allows the excited solar cell tocharge the battery, but will not allow the drain of power when it isused or stored in the dark.

Layering of printed circuits, with or without ventilation depending onwhether circuit components need cooling, using the power substrate forthe support substance gives shorter leads. It allows cutting thesubstrate to the size needed to produce the voltage and currentrequirements eliminating power supplies and voltage converters. Morecomplicated circuitry can be developed with vertical leads betweenlayers. Also, with integrated circuit components as well as othersimilarly complicated electronic chips, the outputs to several circuitcomponents is achieved more directly with multilayer configurations asthe sheet battery laminate allows.

These developments make significant differences in the portableelectronic equipment market from radios and televisions as well asflashlights and medical assists. The smaller and lighter the componentthe easier it is to use and handle. With the structural nature of thebattery material when laminated, these applications can be made of thematerial as well, as for instance in applicant's copending applicationsentitled "Mosaic Monitor for Higher Resolution and Privacy for AudioAccommodations" filed Dec. 29, 1989, Ser. No. 07/459,140, and "Super-CCDWith Default Distribution and its Fabrication" filed Sep. 12, 1990, Ser.No. 07/581,503. In a CD disk magazine for a television camera, forexample, both the control circuit board and the magazine casement aresheet batteries giving sufficient power in the magazine to record on thecontained 100 CD discs. This eliminates the need for a power supply inthe camera. Polaroid has achieved this in their film packets havingsufficient power in the battery disc to drive the focus and power theflash. The camera takes more power because laser recording is done onthe flexible disk substrates. Were lights required to be powered aswell, one could recharge the batteries in the casement and circuit boardsubstrates.

For multiple battery applications as described with the CD diskmagazine, leads from the circuit board substrate battery to the edges ofthe structural support battery material are provided using the connectorclips for both the power and the ground leads allowing recharging fromone source to recharge all the battery components in the entireelectronic device.

Application of the circuits to the insulator layer 9 of the sheetbattery substrate 1 can be done using several currently employedtechniques.

The photo technique of producing printed circuits on circuits board canbe used on the sheet battery substrate. This technique includes coatingthe sheet battery substrate with copper and over the copper coating iseither a photographic or silk screen application to areas where wirecircuitry is required. Untreated areas are cleared away in a corrosivebath which strips copper from the surface. The circuits are completed bysurface mounting electronic components on the sheet battery substratesurface. In the case of use of the sheet battery, the copper coatingwould be done leaving uncoated margins which before the corrosive bathare dipped or otherwise coated with resistant material as wax preventingcorrosion of the sheet battery substrate. Both sides of the sheetbattery substrate can be treated this way in one process.

Another technique used especially in the inner layers of sheet batterylaminates is evaporated circuit techniques where a mask or stencilexposes the areas where wiring is desired and it passes through an areawhere atomic or spattered conductive substance is applied to constructthe wiring 52. In additional treatments substance comprising thecomponents 58 are evaporated or spatter applied. This technique is usedin integrated circuit construction. The inner circuit layer in FIG. 3Ashows the appearance of such a circuit greatly enlarged.

Inserts have tiered circuitry with wiring meeting the edge of the insertat any level of battery circuitry laminate with wire continuity providedby flex circuit extension so wire surface touches wire surface betweenthe insert and battery laminate layer circuitry. Similarly theconductive inner surface of the edge clip clamps on circuit wiring.

I claim:
 1. An electronic device comprising a sheet battery having apower layer and a ground layer with their outer surfaces covered by aninsulating layer to serve as an electronic circuit substrate, andelectronic circuitry placed directly on an outer surface of the sheetbattery.
 2. The device according to claim 1, further comprisingelectronic circuitry placed on the other outer surface of the sheetbattery.
 3. The device according to claim 1, further comprisingelectronic components fused to the outer surface of the sheet battery.4. The device according to claim 3, where the electronic componentsfused to the surface comprises wave soldered components.
 5. The deviceaccording to claim 3, where the electronic components fused to thesurface comprises adhesively applied components.
 6. The device accordingto claim 2, further comprising a hole formed in the sheet battery;aninsert having electronic circuit wiring thereon placed in the hole; andthe wiring on the insert matches the electronic circuitry on eachsurface of the sheet battery and provides contact therebetween.
 7. Anelectronic device comprising two or more laminated sheet batteries, eachsheet battery having a power layer and a ground layer with their outersurfaces covered by an insulating layer to serve as an electroniccircuit substrate, and electronic circuitry placed on at least one outersurface of the laminated sheet batteries.
 8. The device according toclaim 7, further comprising electronic circuitry placed on the two outersurfaces of the laminated sheet batteries.
 9. The device according toclaim 7, further comprising electronic circuitry placed on a surface ofa first sheet battery which is adjacent to a surface of a secondlaminated sheet battery having no electronic circuitry thereon.
 10. Thedevice according to claim 9, further comprising a hole formed in thelaminated sheet batteries;an insert having electronic circuit wiringthereon placed in the hole; and the wiring on the insert matches theelectronic circuitry on each surface of the sheet batteries and providescontact therebetween.
 11. The device according to claim 10, furthercomprising electrical contact between the circuit on one surface withthe circuit on at least one other surface by provided vertical wiringplaced in the insert.
 12. The device according to claim 7, furthercomprising clips for connecting the laminate sheet batteries.
 13. Thedevice according to claim 12, where the clips further comprise probes,and where the probes on one clip are placed in the power layers, and theprobes on another clip are placed in the ground layers, of the laminatedsheet batteries, respectively.
 14. The device according to claim 13,where each clip has been polarized by an external direct current powersource such as a battery to attract the probes to either the power layeror the ground layer in the sheet battery, respectively; andthe probeshave been inserted into the power layer or ground layer of the sheetbattery by pushing the clip into place thus setting the probes intoeither the power or ground material of the sheet battery, respectively.15. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a chargingcircuit for charging the sheet battery with A-C or solar power, and adiode for preventing battery discharge when conditions for charging thebattery are not present.
 16. The device according to claim 1, where thesheet battery has been cut from a web of sheet battery material.